


Books and Their Covers

by CarrKicksDoor



Series: The Secret Everyday Lives of the Avengers [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Domestic Avengers, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-09
Updated: 2014-07-09
Packaged: 2018-02-08 04:46:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1927128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarrKicksDoor/pseuds/CarrKicksDoor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The library at Stark Tower is a sanctuary of calm in an otherwise boisterous and busy place.  Large, overstuffed furniture create reading nooks, lamps create pools of light to read by, a fireplace gives a cozy air, and it is the one room in the entire tower in which Tony Stark Is Absolutely Not Allowed.</p><p>---</p><p>The Avengers and their reading</p>
            </blockquote>





	Books and Their Covers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [trismegistus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/trismegistus/gifts), [medievalfantasist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/medievalfantasist/gifts), [TheWriterChick](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWriterChick/gifts).



> I didn't expect to finish this story today, but I got to the end and it was so very complete, I couldn't add anymore.
> 
> I've added links to my preferred editions of the books through Amazon Smile. There are a few YouTube video links in there too.
> 
> This is probably the last Secret Life story. I hope you've enjoyed it.

The library at Stark Tower is a sanctuary of calm in an otherwise boisterous and busy place. Large, overstuffed furniture create reading nooks, lamps create pools of light to read by, a fireplace gives a cozy air, and it is the one room in the entire tower in which Tony Stark Is Absolutely Not Allowed.

(“No. This room is part of my 12% of the tower, Tony.”

“There could be an emergency, Pepper. What if there’s an emergency?”

“Your definition of an emergency and my definition of an emergency are very different.”

“What if the lab blows up again?”

“Why would you need to come in the library if the lab blows up?”

“To hide from the Hulk?”

“And you can’t hide in the other 88% of the tower that belongs to you?”

“ _Emergency_ , Pep!”

“Tony. You may enter the library if it is an emergency—“

“See, I knew—“

“ _But_ only if Steve would agree that it was an actual emergency that couldn’t be solved by you calling me with JARVIS.”

“Damn.”

“This is why I run your company. Go play in your workshop.”)

Whereas the rest of Stark Tower is immaculately decorated and designed to showroom quality, the library is not. Books, after all, don’t pay attention to any such design cues, and Pepper refuses to mix up genres and authors in order to create a pleasing color effect on the bookshelves. Instead, paperbacks and hardcovers are mixed together, series are crammed into the shelves, and in the corner of one stands the [annotated full works of Shakespeare](http://smile.amazon.com/The-Norton-Shakespeare-Edition-Slipcased/dp/0393068013/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404695912&sr=8-1&keywords=norton+works+of+shakespeare) that Pepper used in college. (There’s a nicer one in her office in Los Angeles that Tony bought her—he had _actually_ put some thought into the gift, but she doesn’t have the heart to tell him that she prefers this one with the notes of a twenty-year-old Virginia Potts written in the margins, marking the dirty jokes in _Romeo and Juliet,_ underlining the agony of Ophelia, and highlighting the wicked wit of Beatrice in _Much Ado About Nothing_.)

Since this is the copy that has been beaten up and loved and written in and had coffee spilled on, it is the copy that Pepper thinks can probably stand up to a Norse god when Thor expresses interest in learning some Midgardian tales. So she slips the book from the shelf and brings it to him. “Shakespeare is the single greatest master of the English language who has ever lived,” she says, handing it to him. “These are his plays. His poetry is here too.”

Thor takes the book with a small bow. “Thank you, Lady Pepper. I am sure I shall enjoy this.”

Despite the jokes, Thor can—and does—do things quietly, as incongruous as it may seem to watch the thunder god sit in a chair and read a book. (Steve is drawing in the lounge when Thor sits down to read _Hamlet_. Thor reads it all in one sitting, giving Steve enough time to complete an incredibly detailed portrait of his friend, book in hand, brow furrowed as he turns the pages. When Thor finally closes the book, Steve asks him if he’s all right, and Thor taps the cover. “This man who wrote these words—he was not of royal blood, but he has much good counsel about kingship. It gives me much to consider.”)

Jane, Bruce and Tony are working in the lab on what Darcy, who is goofing off, refers to as a new science machine, when Thor bounds in, the familiar red-bound book in his hand. “My friends,” he says, “you must listen. These words would rouse the most faint of heart to battle.”

Thor’s own natural style of declamation, so used to the ballads and eddas, somehow still seems to flow into Shakespeare, and he reads the [St. Crispin’s Day speech from Henry V](http://www.gonderzone.org/Library/Knights/crispen.htm) with such vigor that Tony swears later that he could hear the music, and for months later, if anyone asks Thor if he’s ready, he replies, “All things are ready if our minds be so!” (JARVIS’ security recording of Thor reciting the speech may mysteriously end up on the internet. Reports of [Kenneth Branagh](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-yZNMWFqvM) crying while watching it are unconfirmed.)

***

Darcy leaves piles of books on Steve’s coffee table, covered with post-it notes on the front. Bucky’s reading one called [_Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee_](http://smile.amazon.com/Bury-My-Heart-Wounded-Knee-ebook/dp/B009KY5OGC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404869295&sr=1-1&keywords=bury+my+heart+at+wounded+knee). Steve’s reading [_A People’s History of the United States_](http://smile.amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States-Present/dp/0060838655/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404869323&sr=1-1&keywords=a+people%27s+history+of+the+united+states). The post-it notes read “History is decided by old, white men. Time to learn the other side of the story.” There’s also a bunch of textbooks about the Cold War with post-it notes that first, instruct Bucky to stay out of them, and second, offer to explain the political theory to Steve if he wants.

“Fuck Custer,” Bucky snarls, dog-earing the page and tossing the book to the table.

“Buck, that’s Darcy’s,” Steve chides, tearing off a corner of an envelope for Bucky to use as a bookmark. Bucky ignores him, and Steve sighs. The books have Darcy’s notes written all over the margins anyway, so one folded over page probably won’t be noticed. (It isn’t.)

Darcy pulls Steve aside a few days after Bucky finishes _A People’s History_ and gives him a slip of paper with an address. “Here. It’s a used bookstore in Queens. There are some better ones in Brooklyn, but I know you’re trying not to take James there yet. I thought you might want a field trip, and used bookstores are always more fun than new ones.”

She’s gone before he can look up from the piece of paper to thank her for the thought, and Steve is once again startled by all she’s done for Bucky.

 _For James_ , his mind says quietly. To Darcy, he isn’t Bucky. He’s James, someone different, someone new, and not for the first time, Steve wonders if he’s been doing the right thing.

So he takes Bucky to the bookstore, and the smell of musty books hits them both all at once, and Steve sees the beginnings of a grin shape the side of his best friend’s mouth before Bucky completely and utterly abandons him for the depths of the shelves.

(Bucky comes back with a stack of pulp novels, [_The Big Sleep_](http://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the%20big%20sleep&sprefix=the+big+sle%2Cstripbooks&rh=i%3Astripbooks%2Ck%3Athe%20big%20sleep&ajr=2) at the top. “We used to read this kind of stuff, didn’t we?” he asks. He’s quiet to keep from being overheard, but there’s still excitement in his voice.

“Yeah, when we could get it,” Steve said, failing to keep amusement out of his own voice. He takes Bucky’s stack and an old volume of [Tennyson](http://smile.amazon.com/Tennyson-Selected-Longman-Annotated-English-ebook/dp/B00KINM6BU/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404871375&sr=1-2&keywords=the+works+of+tennyson+ricks) he thinks Thor might enjoy, gives them to the old man at the counter and pays for them.

Bucky reads Raymond Chandler the whole way home.)

***

Getting Thor started on Midgardian epic poetry was probably a bad idea, in hindsight.

Getting Thor started on King Arthur was probably worse.

***

Thor’s reading aloud from [_The Passing of Arthur_](http://d.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/text/tennyson-passing-of-arthur) to Coulson and Skye when Barton walks into the room. He sees the occupants and scowls as he heads to the kitchen, while Thor reads Arthur’s response to Bedivere:

"Ah, miserable and unkind, untrue,  
Unknightly, traitor-hearted! Woe is me!  
Authority forgets a dying king,  
Laid widowed of the power in his eye  
That bowed the will. I see thee what thou art,  
For thou, the latest-left of all my knights,  
In whom should meet the offices of all,  
Thou wouldst betray me—“

There’s a sudden crash from the kitchen, and the shattered pieces of a mug lie on the floor. Barton is facing away from them, but there’s a tension in his shoulders that suggests he’s controlling every breath. “What the _fuck_ are you reading?” he growls out.

Skye watches as Coulson holds up a hand to stop Thor from speaking. “Tennyson.”

Whatever Barton says, Skye can’t hear, but Coulson must be able to. “I never cared for the _Idylls_ ,” Coulson says softly.

“No, you always liked the fucking [‘Charge of the Light Brigade,’](http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174586)“ Barton shoots back, finally turning around. He’s still angry, and Skye finds herself exchanging a look of confusion with the god of thunder as Barton comes around the kitchen island and spits out the words. “’Cannon to the right of them, Cannon to the left of them, Cannon in front of them, Volley’d and thunder’d.’”

Coulson rises, continuing, and Skye suddenly feels like she’s an interloper in a very personal moment. “’Storm’d at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and _well_ ,’” he says, emphasizing the word, stepping up to Barton and hesitantly putting a hand on the other man’s shoulder. “’Into the jaws of Death, into the mouth of Hell, Rode the six hundred.’” Barton hangs his head as Coulson speaks softly to him, hand rising to the side of Barton’s neck.

Thor touches Skye’s arm, gesturing for her to follow him out of the room. “What just happened?” she asks as they get out of earshot. Thor looks back over his shoulder toward the common room. “I believe that the anger our friend Hawk feels for the Son of Coul is not merely the anger from the Son of Coul’s deception about his death, but anger at himself.”

“But—why?” Skye asks.

Thor looks down at her sadly. “Because he still feels guilt over the events that led to the death of the Son of Coul. Before our friend Barton can forgive the Son of Coul, he must finally forgive himself.”

***

Pepper’s rule about Tony not being allowed to cook without supervision is not the fault of the omelet Tony tried to make her to tell her he was dying.

It’s actually the fault of Dr. Leo Fitz and Alton Brown.  (Well, it's also Bruce's fault because of the take-out rule too.  That doesn't help either.)

Fitz spends quite a bit of time in the tower. His recovery is going to take a long time, and when it’s time to take another step, he comes back to New York for time with speech and physical and occupational therapists, who then teach Simmons what to do so she can help Fitz when they aren’t on the Bus. He’s still a valuable member of their team, his mind working as quickly as ever. It’s simply a struggle to get his body to keep up now.

But Fitz is watching [_Good Eats_](https://www.youtube.com/show/goodeats) and doing some of his exercises with the machines Tony and Simmons have constructed to assist him when one of Alton’s demonstrations of the science behind cooking catches Tony’s eye. “What is this?” he asks.

Fitz explains, slowly and haltingly, in the stuttering speech he’s regained, and Tony, who knows something about traumatic incidents, unstereotypically lets him get all of his words out. And because anything someone else can do, Tony can do better, it’s not long before Tony and Fitz (and Dummy, which is _such_ a bad idea) are poring over [_I’m Just Here for More Food_](http://smile.amazon.com/Im-Just-Here-More-Food-ebook/dp/B00AOJE116/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404934173&sr=1-1&keywords=I%27m+just+here+for+more+food) trying to “improve” Alton’s chocolate chip cookie recipe.

No one’s quite sure how Tony managed to set the lab on fire, but everyone is grateful Dummy had the fire extinguisher. Pepper’s first rule about Tony's attempts at cooking is cooking must take place in the kitchen (“No, Tony, I don’t care that Alton cooked a Thanksgiving meal in a car on that episode of _Mythbusters_. No more cooking in the lab.”)

Cooking in the kitchen does not go well either. JARVIS has to activate the fire suppression systems, and Steve and Barnes both come barreling into the kitchen, Steve with his shield at the ready, Barnes with wicked looking knives in both hands. Tony’s waving a towel, and Barnes growls as he reaches into the oven with his left hand to extricate _something_.

Supervision becomes the next rule.

Tony has never _not_ been able to do something well, and cooking is supposed to be a science. (“I am good at science, Pep. I should be able to _do_ this.”) Julia Child’s [_Mastering the Art of French Cooking_](http://smile.amazon.com/Mastering-Art-French-Cooking-1-ebook/dp/B004ZZFMTK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404935667&sr=1-1&keywords=julia+child+mastering+the+art+of+french+cooking) is parsed over Tony’s workshop bench. (Darcy passes Pepper a copy of [_Julie and Julia_](julie%20and%20julia) with a post-it note covering _Julie_ with “Tony.” Pepper gets to the part in the book about “crustacean murder” and laughs so hard she cries.) Coulson gives Tony a copy of [_The Joy of Cooking_](http://smile.amazon.com/Joy-Cooking-Irma-S-Rombauer/dp/0743246268/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404935863&sr=1-1&keywords=the+joy+of+cooking). Maria Hill rolls her eyes, tells them they’re all trying too hard and thunks down a copy of the [_Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook_](http://smile.amazon.com/Better-Homes-Gardens-Cook-Book/dp/0470560800/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404935942&sr=1-1&keywords=better+homes+and+gardens+cookbook) and tells Tony that she’s written the recipe for biscuits from the old edition in it, since the new one doesn’t taste right.

Everything is a disaster, and Tony finally gets mad and, in a flurry of Twitter exchanges, gets Alton Brown to come to the tower.

(Alton fusses at Tony over the number of uni-taskers in the kitchen. Tony responds with snark and introduces Alton to Jane, who gives Alton all sorts of ideas for making cooking equipment out of coat hangers and tin foil, since that’s what most of her equipment seems to be made out of.

The kitchen is pretty amazing, though, and Alton understands why it’s so _huge_ when there are two super-soldiers who need a lot of protein in a day (he starts testing new protein bar recipes) and, well, _Thor_. But after two and a half weeks, it’s pretty obvious that Tony Stark is never going to be able to cook. Bruce Banner is pretty damn good at it, though.

At the end of it all, though, Alton goes back to Georgia since they aren’t filming any of the series he hosts (and does he ever dislike the evil!Alton persona he has to take on for those series). A week later, he gets a call from the network. They’re finally bringing _Good Eats_ back, if he wants it. It seems that Pepper Potts called. Stark Industries is offering to bankroll the show.)

***

The man formerly known as Nick Fury doesn’t have time to read, motherfucker.

(That’s not true. Most of what was in the container he burned after SHIELD fell was professional. But there was one small box of personal items from yet another former life, one before even Nick Fury, and in it was a dog-eared copy of Alex Haley’s [_Roots_](http://smile.amazon.com/Roots-Enhanced-Saga-American-Family-ebook/dp/B003YL4M8I/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1404936147&sr=1-1&keywords=roots) that his mother had given him. For all the men he has been and all the men he may yet become, there is no greater importance than knowing who and where he has come from.)


End file.
